Technician: Circuit Types

In which type of circuit is current the same through all components?

A. Series
B. Parallel
C. Resonant
D. Branch

The answer here is A. Series. The reason why is pretty straight forward. If you line up a series (ha!) of components in a straight line, the output of each going into the input of the next, then apply a current… yup, its the same going in as going out.

Now, if you take and line up a few *different* components in parallel (again, ha!) and split up the wire so that each is connected, then it makes sense that the current cannot be the same through each one.

A resonant circuit doesn’t make sense here in this context. You’ll learn about those later, for sure, but for now, know that its not important.

And a branch circuit? That’s something else entirely and way beyond the scope of simple amateur radio exams like this one.

Now, technically speaking this question does have a problem with its wording. If you line up any number of say equal value resistors in parallel, but ONLY those. guess what? The current going through each resistor is the same. Yeah, its just a technicality. Don’t fall for it though.